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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Last week’s poll scored an impressive 8438 voters, and was the most-viewed poll yet! All those views caused the site to even crash at one point (I’ve enabled caching to prevent that problem in the future).

This poll’s nominations were the most controversial yet, with many complaints about great shows that had been left off (I’d severely underestimated the number of shows that have reached the season 7 benchmark), even after I’d tacked on 5 more shows to the initial 45. Speculative shows secured an early lead, but eventually the large fan base of crime shows made a significant dent in the top 10. Which show won? Keep reading!

This week on Monday Madness, it’s time to vote for your favorite new TV shows! This poll is for all live-action scripted shows that aired their first US episode between June 1, 2011 and April 30, 2012, and includes both broadcast and cable shows.

This poll will be open for one week, and you can choose up to 10 of your favorite new shows. Be sure to spread the word so your favorites will make it into the top 10!

Even though there are 50 options on this list, I know there are some shows I left out (I think there are only a few canceled shows or lesser-known cable shows left out this week)! As always, you can cast write-in ballots (for new live-action scripted shows only please) by leaving a comment. Want more of a say in what makes it onto the poll each week? Be sure to follow me on Twitter, since I usually ask for nominations for the next Monday Madness the weekend before the new poll.

Next week’s poll will focus on favorite season and series finales. Please nominate your favorite finales by leaving a comment! In your comment, be sure to note the show, season, episode title, and not-too-spoilery descriptive phrase (think of what a promo for that episode would say). For example: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 2, “Becoming, Part Two.” Aided by an unlikely ally, Buffy must face Angel to save the world.

Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s Monday Madness! Voting ends around 1AM May 7th.

Three new episodes of Community in one night? Yup, that’s what NBC is doing this May 17, which allows the double-episode finale to air during May sweeps. Usually back-to-back episodes signal burnoff, but in this case it’s a vote of confidence for Community, which NBC thinks will do better than the extra episode of Awake, previously scheduled to fill that slot. Instead of a double episode finale night, the finale of Awake has been pushed back to May 24 (after sweeps).

NBC will air one episode of Community in its normal 8PM slot, then the 30 Rock finale, then the final two-episode Community finale from 9-10PM.

I’m most excited about these climatic episodes’ tidbits and dates (many spoilers in the episode descriptions):

Once Upon a Time – April 29 (this Sunday!) – “The Stranger” – August promises to enlighten Emma and take her on a journey that will show her how she can beat Regina, and possibly take custody of Henry; and with Mary Margaret returning to work, Regina puts a plan in motion to seduce David. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, with the Evil Queen’s curse about to strike, Geppetto agrees to a plan that will save Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter, but with a proviso that could also save his own son.

Castle – April 30 – “Undead Again” – When Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of a man with human bite marks on his body, Castle’s wild theories start flying. But none are as wild as what their only witness insists happened – a Zombie attack. As the evidence pointing towards an undead assailant piles up, the team plunges into New York’s Zombie subculture to find the killer and bring him in dead or alive…or undead.

Suburgatory – May 2 – “Hear No Evil” – As George and Eden’s (Alicia Silverstone) relationship gets serious, he decides to introduce her to Tessa, who is preoccupied with her job at Crystal Cup of Crystals. Meanwhile, George and Noah make a deal regarding George’s relationship boundaries with Eden, and Eden is overwhelmed by Sheila’s meddling and the Werners’ overprotective behavior.

Once Upon a Time – May 6 – “An Apple Red as Blood” – Henry pleads with Emma to stay in Storybrooke and continue her quest as the savior of the fairytale dwellers, and Regina concocts a plan that could rid her of Emma forever. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land that was, Snow White enlists the aid of her fellow fairytale cohorts to attack the Evil Queen and save Prince Charming’s life.

Castle SEASON FINALE – May 7 – “Always” – When the murder of an Army veteran puts Beckett on the trail of the man who shot her, Castle must decide how much he’s willing to sacrifice to keep her safe. As secrets are revealed and feelings are put on the table, the lives of the detectives at the 12th Precinct may never be the same.

Suburgatory – May 9 – “The Great Compromise” – As Tessa adjusts to having Eden (Alicia Silverstone) living with them, she finds Eden helpful in her pursuit of a summer internship, while George has difficulty with Eden’s parenting. Meanwhile Sheila interferes with Noah’s relationship with Eden, and Malik and Lisa debate which camp to attend.

Once Upon a Time SEASON FINALE – May 13 – “A Land Without Magic”

Suburgatory SEASON FINALE – May 16 – “The Motherload” — Residents of Chatswin go all out in celebration of their moms, leaving a noticeable void for Tessa, while Dalia chooses to go to Israel without Dallas. Meanwhile George and Eden attend the Werners’ baby shower, and Eden reacts to the endangered animal theme; Fred surprises Sheila with a special performance by her favorite solo artist, and Lisa makes a startling discovery.

Defiance sounds like it will be awesome! The cast includes Warehouse 13’s Jaime Murray and Angel’s Julie Benz.

SyFy’s pilot/script orders include Rewind, where scientists and military operatives travel back in time to change the future; The Adjustment Bureau, which is based on the movie; High Moon, which covers moon mining and a new life form discovery; Bolster Gold Project, where an athlete from the future travels to the present to become the world’s greatest superhero, just for the money and fame; Grave Site, where teenage Harper is struck by lightning and gains the ability to sense the location and last memories of the dead; Seeing Things, where a dead cop returns as a ghost to solve his last case; Defender, which is set during an intergalactic war between humans and transhumans; and The Family, which has an alien clan hiding in plain sight by posing as humans for generations.

Hmm, that good-looking of a co-worker for Parker? I’m guessing she and Auggie won’t last long into season 3. Good news for Annie, though of course the writers will keep Auggie and Annie apart at least for the rest of the season, probably longer.

The other guest star mentioned in this news article is Ana Claudia Talancon, who I’ve only seen in an episode of Dollhouse (practically her only English-speaking role before this).

Here’s a look at what to expect when Fox shows wrap up for this year. Yes, there are spoilers. I know it’s redundant to say so, since there’s the word “spoilers” in the title, but someone spoiled last night’s House for me, so I want to be extra clear.

Last week’s poll received a record 45,198 voters! However, the site pageviews did not justify that many votes. There’s a chance that the poll was embedded on different sites, but it’s more likely that the poll was hacked. It’s impossible to tell which votes are fraudulent, however. All of the top 5 characters seem to have some degree of auto-voting, but before the sudden spikes in voting, all of those characters were in the top 10. So this top 10 list is fairly accurate, however the actual order may be incorrect.

To prevent future auto-votes, I would have to subscribe to a voting system costing $300/year or more. So I would ask that if you want your favorite shows/characters to win a particular poll, you share the link on social networks and fan sites instead of automating votes. I would hate to have to discontinue Monday Madness because of cheating.

This time on Monday Madness, it’s time to vote for your favorite TV show that has run at least 7 seasons! Whether they are still wrapping up their season 7 or have reached the double-digits, these shows have endured to become TV legends.

This poll will be open for one week, and you can choose up to 10 of your favorite long-running shows. Be sure to spread the word so your favorites will make it into the top 10!

Even though there are 45 50 options on this list, I know there are shows I left out! As always, you can cast write-in ballots by leaving a comment. Want more of a say in what makes it onto the poll each week? Be sure to follow me on Twitter, since I usually ask for nominations for the next Monday Madness the weekend before the new poll.

Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s Monday Madness! Voting ends around 1AM April 30th.

Loved this fun slideshow! And the description is very apt – for the shows on the list that I have watched I have VERY distinct opinions on who characters should end up with. Which couples did you root/are you rooting for?

My choices (and yes, if you go to the slideshow, you can see which shows I don’t watch, or haven’t seen enough of to have an opinion on the love triangle):

Fred and Wesley (Angel), not Gunn

Spike and Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), not Angel (he goes with Cordy!)

Don’t like either Britta or Annie with Jeff – I like Britta and Troy, and Annie and Abed much better (Community)

Rory and Jess (Gilmore Girls), not Dean

Luke and Lorelai (Gilmore Girls), not Christopher

Barney and Robin (How I Met Your Mother), not Ted

Dwight and Angela (The Office), not Andy (he goes with Erin!)

Logan and Veronica (Veronica Mars), not Duncan

Hmm, Spike, Jess, Barney, Logan – I’m sensing a bad boy trend here!

Who are your choices? And are there any divisive love triangles TV Line left out? (I’m thinking of Dollhouse’s Echo/Paul/Mellie.) View the whole slideshow here:

The main reason I started watching Person of Interest was because I loved Jim Caviezel’s acting in the 2002 film, The Count of Monte Cristo. On May 3 on Person of Interest, the actress who played his fiancee Mercedes, Dagmara Dominczyk, will have her number come up. Her character also has ties to Jim’s character, Reese’s, past.

One of my favorite actors from Angel and Dollhouse, Amy Acker has been guesting in a bunch of my new favorite shows this year. First Grimm, then Once Upon a Time, and now Person of Interest. In the latter, she’ll be playing a psychologist whose number comes up in the season finale.